EUROPE
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"Exploration
by real people
inspires people"
Dalai Lama
Gold
Spice
Luxury
DIRECT ACCESS TO LUXURIES
European states in the Age of Exploration
From the time Columbus landed in Haiti and found gold, Europe had been making trips to the New World to mine for precious metals and other luxuries. Eventually trading with natives, crops of corn and potatoes were introduced to Europe. From Europe, citrus fruits, apples, bananas, mangos, onions, coffee, wheat, and rice, were brought over the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas. Can you imagine a life without wheat? Well the natives of America had to live that way until at least 1492, when Christopher Columbus reached their lands.
Although the people died making trips to and from the New World, very rarely were people credited with some type of fame or fortune. Really, Columbus wasn't credited until long after his death, and Magellan was credited for circumnavigating the globe, even though he died a quarter from making the full trip. The odds for getting credit for your work isn't very high. European countries however did receive wealth after explorers established new trade routes for all kinds of imports and exports for centuries to follow after the explorers had returned.
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Colonies
COLONIZING THE NEW WORLD
Eastern North America
To ensure oversea trade partners, Britain had established colonies in North America. The original idea for the colonies could have been great, permanent trade with the continent of North America, but instead, pushing the natives out of their land, but not after learning the ways of their local crops. The Native Americans were killed off by disease brought in by the inhabitants of the newly founded colonies. Unfortunatly for Britain, merantilism killed the dreams of colonies. The British placed high taxes on imports, much as to the reason why Britain formed the colonies was to export resources from the Americas to Europe cheap, but how could the Americas sustain their living cost when they are making little and spending lots.
RELIGIOUS STIMULUS
Oversea Travels
Religion was a huge influence in the Age of Exploration. From Spanish missions, to Magellan fighting to covert Phillipinos to convert them to Catholcism, religion put a lot of work into trying to change people from land they didn't have control over. Religous stimulus was found anywhere there was ships landing of European origin. The religious stimuli (<-- real word I googled it) was not uncommon. Often times the attempt to convert another area was not succesful. Like the Spanish, English and Dutch also tried spreading religion, only that Spaiards spread Catholicism, and the Dutch and English tried to spread Protestantism.
But not all who travel are going to spread religion. A large quantity of people left Europe to the New-World in search of religious freedom. Natives of North America were forced into Spanish missions. The goals of most of the missions was to convert, "civilize", and educate the natives. The missions unded up overworking the Natives and the natives were being killed or worked to death.
TECHNOLOGY
Portolani
The portolani was an atlas of the middle ages, showig rhumb lines, ports, and coastal features.
Magnetic Compass
A Chinese invention, the magnetic compass enabled sailors to determine their dirction and position at sea. Inventions like the astrolabe, caravel, and the compass help civilizations explore onto deeper seas rather than stay alone the shore. Civilizations like the ones in Europe had the technological advantage of exploration
Astrolabe
The astrolabe, an instrument invented by the ancient Greeks and perfected by Muslim navigators, was used to determine the altitude of the sun sun and other celestial bodies. It permited mariners to plot their latitude, also their precise position north or south of the equator. Along with the caravel and the compass, the astrolabe helped with the exapnsion and exploration of ancient civilizations.
Horses
Horses had a few jobs during the Exploration and Conquest. Horses were seen as ways to get around much as we see cars today they were used for transportation. They were also used as weapons by the Spanish while there was conflict between them and the New World Indians.
Technology unknown to the Natives of the Americas were guns. Guns were used to kill many Natives in the battles, the conquistadors had a major advantage with guns because there is no comparison between the damage that the weapons that the Natives had and the guns they had never seen before.
Oversea Empires and Trade Networks
Portugal had a head start in its endeavors to explore and navigate the world thanks to Prince Henry the Navigator, it established trading parts in the coasts of Africa. It also established trading posts in Arguin, along the Gold Coast, Mombasa, and Calicut where Muslim traders dominated). Soon, Portugal regulated the amount of African gold going into Europe because of its connected trading areas. Portuguese merchants also aquired wealth importing Indian spices and cloth.
The Spanish empire was at its’ height during the 16th-18th centuries. During this time, The Empire was under the control of the Spanish Habsburgs. The Spanish were dominant in Europe because they had established colonies in different places including the Americas, Pacific, and the Caribbean. Not only was it dominant for colonies, but because they were the foremost global power, they led European global exploration, and they dominated the sea.
The Rest of Europe
The English, French, and Dutch followed the Spanish and Portuguese in establishing colonies in the Americas. The French started to colonize in America in the 16th century. They founded colonies not only in America, but also in South America and some on the Caribbean Islands. The Dutch and England both had similar colonies. They both were focused on corporate colonialism, but the Dutch worked on overseas colonial empires whereas the English were on land.
